Sentence Correction

GMATGuruNY wrote: I would argue that prompting is an adjective modifying the noun birds; the birds are doing the prompting. How did they do the prompting? By falling from the sky. (To prompt means to incite, to cause an action to happen.)

As far as I know, only an absolute phrase can modify an entire clause:

Mary entered the room, her eyes shining brightly.

The phrase her eyes shining brightly modifies the entire clause Mary entered the room. The phrase tells us in what context Mary entered the room. But within the absolute phrase, the -ing word shining is an adjective modifying the noun eyes: her eyes were shining.

I stand by my previous post: it should be clear who or what is performing the action of an -ing word that is acting as a modifier. If you can't tell what a modifier is modifying, eliminate the answer choice. I've seen quite a few official GMAT SCs, and I can't think of a single correct answer choice in which it's not clear who or what is performing the action of an -ing word that is functioning as a modifier.

Stacey Koprince wrote:Oh, and I should add one more thing:

technically, a "comma -ing" is neither a strict noun modifier nor a strict adverbial modifier. When I said before that it is *not* a noun modifier but *is* an adverbial modifier, I was simplifying. I've gotten into the habit of simplifying this because the general rule is typically that a noun modifier modifies ONLY a noun while an adverbial modifier modifies anything else. But I'm really simplifying too much.

A strict noun modifier refers only to the noun. A strict adverbial modifier refers only to the word (which is NOT a noun) that it modifies.

The happy girl danced slowly. Happy = a noun modifier that modifies only the noun "girl." Slowly = an adverbial modifier that modifies only the verb "danced."

A "comma -ing" modifier modifies BOTH.
The happy girl danced, revolving around the dance floor.

"Slowly revolving..." modifies the clause, and the clause consists of the subject and verb (and possibly an object). It modifies BOTH the girl and the action that the girl is doing (dancing), together.

Stacey Koprince wrote:When posting questions, please make sure to cite the source (author) so that I can discuss the problem directly.

A "comma -ing" modifier is not modifying only a noun, and IF it shows up after the clause, then it is especially not referring to the immediately preceding noun (if there is one right before the comma).

A "comma which" modifier is modifying only a noun, and that noun is the immediately preceding main noun (not necessarily the subject - just the first main noun preceding the comma). You can have a short descriptive modifier between the main noun and the "comma which." That short descriptive modifier will be some necessary description so that we can understand what the main noun is.

The box of nails, which is on the desk, ...
The "comma which" modifies box. The box is on the desk. Which box? The box of nails. "of nails" is a short descriptive modifier and necessary to our understanding of the main noun "box."

Can you apply that simpler example to the more complex examples above?

Kajiabeat wrote:I found another question which is very similar to the above mentioned one:

A study by the Ocean Wildlife Campaign urged states to undertake a number of remedies to reverse a decline in the shark population, which includes the establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing state waters for shark fishing during pupping season, and requiring commercial fishers to have federal shark permits.

which includes the establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing

which includes establishing limits to the size of sharks that can be caught, closing

which include the establishment of size limits for shark catches, the closing of

including establishing size limits for shark catches, closing

including the establishing of limits to the size of sharks that are caught, the closing of


can they imply a preference of GMAC about using "comma+ing" in this kind of situation----describing a bunch of methods with a long modifier besides the "including....."?

I've also have seen some questions in which the "which" clause does not modify the word just preceding it, but the distance between the clause and the targeted word is not very far(for example, just a 3-or-4-word preposition phrase)

it is here using "comma+ing" because the distance is too far?

GMATGuruNY wrote:

Kajiabeat wrote: In the mid-1970's, since birds were overcome by pollution, and routinely falling from the sky above Los Angeles freeways, this prompted officials in California to devise a plan that reduced automobile emissions.

since birds were overcome by pollution, and routinely falling from the sky above Los Angeles freeways, this prompted officials in California to devise a plan that reduced

since birds that had been overcome by pollution were routinely falling from the sky above Los Angeles freeways, it prompted officials in California to devise a plan that would reduce

birds had been overcome by pollution and routinely fell from the sky above Los Angeles freeways, prompting officials in California to devise a plan that reduced

birds overcome by pollution routinely fell from the sky above Los Angeles freeways, prompting officials in California to devise a plan to reduce

birds overcome by pollution and routinely falling from the sky above Los Angeles freeways were prompting officials in California to devise a plan to reduce

Your thinking is correct. E can be eliminated because it changes the intended meaning of the sentence.

In E the main verb is were prompting, while overcome and falling are adjectives; the result is a strange change in meaning. E implies that a particular group of birds was so tired of coughing up smoke and falling from the sky that it kept prompting the officials to devise a plan. (What a strange image! These poor winged creatures -- covered in smoke, half their bones broken -- holding a meeting with the officials and yelling, "Devise a plan! We're tired of falling from the sky!" Clearly this is not the intended meaning of the sentence.)